homilies?

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Digitonomy said:
If the priest fails to give a homily, it is fair to criticize him. It doesn’t matter if it’s hot, or he has diarrhea, or whatever. He can make the homily as short as he wants, but he is supposed to deliver a homily. In this case, I agree with most of the posters here who say the priest in the OP did indeed give a homily.

But one of our priests periodically omits the homily. “Since many of you are eager to get back to your families [on Super Bowl Sunday], we’ll go directly to the Profession of Faith.” Sometimes he does the same in case of dangerous weather. I’m sorry, that does not qualify as a homily, that is the priest acting as commentator. To be fair, most of his homilies are 10-15 minute rich ramblings about Church history, theology, scripture, and culture so the idea of a one-sentence homily may just not compute to him.
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Quoted from above:
§2. A homily must be given at all Masses on Sundays and holy days of obligation which are celebrated with a congregation, and it cannot be omitted except for a grave cause.
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If the priest is sick, I would qualify that as “grave cause” and a sufficient reason to drop the homily. But if it happens on a regular basis, there’s a problem.
 
MissRose73 said:
I have been to 2 Latin (EF) Masses where the homily then any brief announcements were made during that time, and both times, it was about 10 minutes for the homily at each.
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Really?? That’s it?? When I attend the EF our sermons are closer to 20-25 minutes excluding announcements. I learn so much,
 
Of course the homily at maas is required, but as you attend different churches, you will see that each priest does his own thing.

The Gospel isd very and to undeerstand it is why we have a homily so everone in the CHurch can leave knowing what this homily was about.

I am not sure, but this could leave the liturgy illicit and invalid.

Some priests will read ther Gospel and say to be seated and reflect on it which is not fair to the church community.
 
OraLabora said:
Quoted from above:
If the priest is sick, I would qualify that as “grave cause” and a sufficient reason to drop the homily.
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I stand corrected. I still think it would be better to whip out a one or two-sentence homily even in the presence of most grave causes.
 
Jim_Roberts said:
I am not sure, but this could leave the liturgy illicit and invalid.
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If a priest did no homily at all at a Sunday Mass, it would be illicit. However, the Mass would be completely valid. The only thing that affects validity is not having a vaid Consecration.
 
As a former priest I can tell you about heat:
  1. First of all we wear black…black material absorbes and holds heat…then there is the plastic tab or connected collar which does not allow heat to vent from your body! So you are already hot!
  2. Then we are wearing an alb (even if made of linen, fairly heavy) with a stole on top of that and a chausible on top of that…sorry folks, if a priest is clebrating Mass in a Church that is not air-conditioned it’s even worse…it is INCREDIBLY HOT! I credit the priest mentioned for being honest about the situation.
  3. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when celebrating Mass it takes a ton of energy, energy escapes the body as heat , so add that heat to the overall heat around you and it does not spell Mother! If your body temp begins to climb over 100 (and I believe it is possible when wearing all the gladrags, moving around, and possibly celebrating) inside a non-air conditioned church, you begin to lose concentration and could even black out…it happened to me a few times.
  4. Back in 1988 (an incredibly hot summer in the midwest) when I pastored a small country church, made of heavy brick and not air conditioned, the temps in the Church regularly climbed above 125 degrees. I cancelled Sunday Mass on those days and sent people 5 miles down the road to the big city and air conditioned churches. The Bishop approved, by the way.
  5. I left the Priesthood for two reasons, mental illness (which with help I got under control), and a thyroid that doesn’t work right (which I also have under control)… but I can’t tolerate heat!
P.S. The Thyroid has an effect on your brain Chemistry and can exacerbate mental illness. If you know someone who is mentally ill, you might suggest a thyroid check.
 
Alex2008 said:
As a former priest I can tell you about heat:
  1. First of all we wear black…black material absorbes and holds heat…then there is the plastic tab or connected collar which does not allow heat to vent from your body! So you are already hot!
  2. Then we are wearing an alb (even if made of linen, fairly heavy) with a stole on top of that and a chausible on top of that…sorry folks, if a priest is clebrating Mass in a Church that is not air-conditioned it’s even worse…it is INCREDIBLY HOT! I credit the priest mentioned for being honest about the situation.
  3. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when celebrating Mass it takes a ton of energy, energy escapes the body as heat , so add that heat to the overall heat around you and it does not spell Mother! If your body temp begins to climb over 100 (and I believe it is possible when wearing all the gladrags, moving around, and possibly celebrating) inside a non-air conditioned church, you begin to lose concentration and could even black out…it happened to me a few times.
  4. Back in 1988 (an incredibly hot summer in the midwest) when I pastored a small country church, made of heavy brick and not air conditioned, the temps in the Church regularly climbed above 125 degrees. I cancelled Sunday Mass on those days and sent people 5 miles down the road to the big city and air conditioned churches. The Bishop approved, by the way.
  5. I left the Priesthood for two reasons, mental illness (which with help I got under control), and a thyroid that doesn’t work right (which I also have under control)… but I can’t tolerate heat!
P.S. The Thyroid has an effect on your brain Chemistry and can exacerbate mental illness. If you know someone who is mentally ill, you might suggest a thyroid check.
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Not to sound unfeeling or unsympathetic, but, our parochial vicar celebrates Mass in a cassock, alb and chasuble and it is quite hot down here in the South Texas hinterland (even with air-condition). He is also an excellent homilist who can sometimes go past 20 minutes and still keep the faithful quite engaged. He also celebrates a very reverent Mass.

I can understand your situation, but, it makes it sound as though you might be painting with broad strokes.
 
Try wearing roman vestments. It will help you stay cool (in more ways than one).
 
benedictgal said:
Not to sound unfeeling or unsympathetic, but, our parochial vicar celebrates Mass in a cassock, alb and chasuble and it is quite hot down here in the South Texas hinterland (even with air-condition). He is also an excellent homilist who can sometimes go past 20 minutes and still keep the faithful quite engaged. He also celebrates a very reverent Mass.

I can understand your situation, but, it makes it sound as though you might be painting with broad strokes.
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It’s the same thing with the FSSP priest from the parish I was at before I moved home for the summer. That parish has no A/C, and under that cassock, he’s wearing pants and a long-sleeved shirt too. My home parish has no A/C either and Sunday was so hot and humid, not to mention I was in a skirt suit and mantilla, which I discovered does an excellent job retaining the heat that is expelled from your head and force it back down the neck of your shirt. It also doesn’t help that I have the German sweat genes, so it’s not the prettiest sight. That said, I offer it up and remember how much better off I am than all those priests in their cassocks and traditional vestments.
 
Love_Divine said:
It’s the same thing with the FSSP priest from the parish I was at before I moved home for the summer. That parish has no A/C, and under that cassock, he’s wearing pants and a long-sleeved shirt too. My home parish has no A/C either and Sunday was so hot and humid, not to mention I was in a skirt suit and mantilla, which I discovered does an excellent job retaining the heat that is expelled from your head and force it back down the neck of your shirt. It also doesn’t help that I have the German sweat genes, so it’s not the prettiest sight. That said, I offer it up and remember how much better off I am than all those priests in their cassocks and traditional vestments.
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Lots of priests manage in the heat much of the time. That isn’t the point. We don’t know in any individual instance, or in the instance in the OP, if the priest was not able to manage. If he wasn’t, then there is not some kind of moral failing in giving a very short homily, which is what he did.

Heck, their are often laws stating that businesses have to close and let employees go if the temperature goes above a particular mark. It wouldn’t seem odd to me that in those kind of temperatures the priest would think the congregation worthy of the same consideration as business workers - or indeed, any workers in the church might have to be dismissed.
 
=mlz;8127632]Are these a necessary part of the Mass? Last night our new parish priest said it was too hot to preach. The Gospel was read and contained 3 parables of which he simply told us to take these home, put them on our mirrors or wherever we would see them and devour them since they were all so good. That was it. At first I thought this priest was just joking when he said it was too hot to preach but then again I’m new to the Catholic faith and may not understand. At any rate, I do like this priest so I have nothing against him in the least. He is very reverent, upbeat.
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Just wondering…
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mlz
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I believe it is absolutely required at “Obligation Masses” [Sundays and holy days as a “NORM”] BUT not daily Mass.

The PRIEST for JUST reason is empowered to not have one for cause. HEAT is sufficient cause, so he is correct and within his rights.🙂

God Bless,
Pat
 
I took your remaks as an INSULT.

I have had religious training in the seminary and I think I know what I am saying.

Have you been in a SEMINARY$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
 
benedictgal said:
Not to sound unfeeling or unsympathetic, but, our parochial vicar celebrates Mass in a cassock, alb and chasuble and it is quite hot down here in the South Texas hinterland (even with air-condition). He is also an excellent homilist who can sometimes go past 20 minutes and still keep the faithful quite engaged. He also celebrates a very reverent Mass.

I can understand your situation, but, it makes it sound as though you might be painting with broad strokes.
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Perhaps Heat Stroke…which can come on quite easily if the body can’t vent it…there are all kinds of media stories this week because of the high temps and how EASY it is for your body to get into health trouble because of the heat.
 
benedictgal said:
Not to sound unfeeling or unsympathetic, but, our parochial vicar celebrates Mass in a cassock, alb and chasuble and it is quite hot down here in the South Texas hinterland (even with air-condition). He is also an excellent homilist who can sometimes go past 20 minutes and still keep the faithful quite engaged. He also celebrates a very reverent Mass.
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I don’t want this to come across wrong, but this sounds a bit like “my priest is tougher than your priest”.

Your namesake, St. Benedict, was known for his flexibility in his Rule, recognizing that we don’t all have the same strengths and weaknesses. He catered to our human sensibilities, for example, in the measure of food, the number of dishes to have at a meal to cater for differing tastes, the degree of punishment based on the level of understanding, etc. It was this flexibility that was instrumental in creating stable communities, and allowed monks to endure the foibles of their brothers; imagine sitting in the refectory for 60 years next to someone who annoyingly slurps his soup.

At our abbey, it is the practice of the community to have a different priest-monk give the homily each Sunday, with the abbot doing the homily on big occasions. Yet some are terrible homilists, and they are exempt from giving the homily. Similarly, not every monk sings in the schola. Elderly and lame monks do not have to process into the church but can enter well ahead of the procession, during the organ prelude, under their own steam and at their own pace.

I think in all charity, we can learn from his Rule, and apply a similar degree of charity to our overworked and in many cases, increasingly aging clergy. Rather than berating them because their homily was too short or even left out during a heat wave, we should be thanking them for their fidelity to their vocation.
 
OraLabora said:
I don’t want this to come across wrong, but this sounds a bit like “my priest is tougher than your priest”.

Your namesake, St. Benedict, was known for his flexibility in his Rule, recognizing that we don’t all have the same strengths and weaknesses. He catered to our human sensibilities, for example, in the measure of food, the number of dishes to have at a meal to cater for differing tastes, the degree of punishment based on the level of understanding, etc. It was this flexibility that was instrumental in creating stable communities, and allowed monks to endure the foibles of their brothers; imagine sitting in the refectory for 60 years next to someone who annoyingly slurps his soup.

At our abbey, it is the practice of the community to have a different priest-monk give the homily each Sunday, with the abbot doing the homily on big occasions. Yet some are terrible homilists, and they are exempt from giving the homily. Similarly, not every monk sings in the schola. Elderly and lame monks do not have to process into the church but can enter well ahead of the procession, during the organ prelude, under their own steam and at their own pace.

I think in all charity, we can learn from his Rule, and apply a similar degree of charity to our overworked and in many cases, increasingly aging clergy. Rather than berating them because their homily was too short or even left out during a heat wave, we should be thanking them for their fidelity to their vocation.
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Our parochial vicar is in his early 50s, so it’s not a matter of whether or not he is tougher than any other priest. However, even in hotter days, he still manages to preach for at least 15 minutes. There was one time when he was quite exhausted and exercised the option of preaching from the chair, but, he still managed to get through Mass and distribute Holy Communion.

We also have another priest (from a religious order) who has difficulty standing at times and he preaches from a barstool. He also wears full vestments over his habit.

Maybe it’s because our priests down here are used to the excessive heat down here. It was, after all, only 106 degrees down here just yesterday.
 
benedictgal said:
Our parochial vicar is in his early 50s, so it’s not a matter of whether or not he is tougher than any other priest. However, even in hotter days, he still manages to preach for at least 15 minutes. There was one time when he was quite exhausted and exercised the option of preaching from the chair, but, he still managed to get through Mass and distribute Holy Communion.

We also have another priest (from a religious order) who has difficulty standing at times and he preaches from a barstool. He also wears full vestments over his habit.

Maybe it’s because our priests down here are used to the excessive heat down here. It was, after all, only 106 degrees down here just yesterday.
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You seem to have completely missed OraLabora’s point. What your priest manages or does not manage in the heat is irrelevant.

It is true that the climate one is used to impacts one’s response, for the priest as well as the congregation. This is true of hot, humid, cold, and dry climates.
 
=Jim Roberts;8139031]I took your remaks as an INSULT.
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I have had religious training in the seminary and I think I know what I am saying.
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Have you been in a SEMINARY$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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My dear brother in Christ,

First my friend it would be helpful knowing to whom you address your coment.

I went back and could not be sure.

Second Charity is a GOOD THING right?

God Bless you. So why did you drop out?

Love and prayers,
Pat
 
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